Marquise Cut Moissanite Three Stone Engagement Ring with Close Set Pear Sides in Silver, 10K, 14K and 18K Gold

A marquise with a pear tucked in tight against each shoulder, points turned outward, on a fine band of about 1.5 mm. The side stones sit close enough that barely any metal shows between them and the centre, so the three read as one continuous pointed shape rather than three separate stones in a row.

At a glance

• Centre stone: Marquise brilliant cut moissanite, colourless, VVS clarity
• Carat options: 2, 3, 4 and 5 carat centre stone
• Setting: Three stone claw setting with close set pears, V claws on all points
• Accent stones: Pear brilliant cut moissanite, colourless, VVS, one each side
• Band width: Approximately 1.5 mm
• Metals: 925 sterling silver, 10K, 14K and 18K gold in yellow, rose and white
• Ring sizes: 1.5 to 13, including half sizes
• Made: To order by hand in Surat, India

Setting the sides close

How much metal you leave between a centre stone and its sides changes a three stone ring completely. Leave a clear gap and the eye counts three stones. Close it up and the eye reads one shape with points at both ends. This ring does the second, and on a marquise, which is already a pointed navette, the effect is a single long bright form running across the finger.

Close setting is harder than it looks. Two stones sitting almost edge to edge have to be level with each other to a fraction of a millimetre or the join reads as a mistake, and the claws between them have to be small enough not to intrude. It is all cut and set under a microscope.

The 1.5 mm shank keeps the whole thing delicate despite three stones across the top.

A marquise has a point at each end, and those two tips are the thinnest part of the stone and the only part that realistically chips. On every marquise we set, each tip sits inside a V shaped claw that cups it from below and folds over it from above. Set that way a marquise is no more fragile than a round, and it is worth checking how any other marquise ring you look at handles those points.

One thing to know about any pear shaped ring. The point is the thinnest part of the stone and the only part that can realistically chip, so how it is held matters more than anything else on the ring. On every pear we set, the tip sits inside metal rather than standing free. Set that way a pear is no more fragile than a round, and it is worth checking how any other pear ring you look at handles that tip.

Why the marquise cut

The marquise cut is a long boat shape with a point at each end, cut with 56 to 58 facets. Of all the classic shapes it covers the most finger for its weight. It is one of the shapes we are asked for most often, and it is cut here to the same proportions we would use for a diamond of the same outline.

How this ring differs from our other marquise moissanite rings

Our other marquise three stone ring sets its pears further apart on a sturdier 1.8 mm band, so all three stones read as distinct and the ring looks more substantial. This one pulls them in tight on a finer shank for one continuous shape. Choose on whether you want three stones or one silhouette.

What moissanite actually is

Moissanite is silicon carbide, a crystal first identified by the French chemist Henri Moissan in 1893 in fragments of the Canyon Diablo meteorite in Arizona. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1906, and the mineral was named after him. Natural moissanite is vanishingly rare, so every moissanite sold as a gemstone today is grown in a laboratory.

Here is what that means for a ring you will wear every day:

• Hardness 9.25 on the Mohs scale. Only diamond and a handful of laboratory materials are harder. It will not scratch from ordinary wear, and it is well suited to a ring worn daily for decades.
• Refractive index of 2.65 to 2.69, higher than diamond at 2.42. More light is bent back to the eye, which is why a moissanite reads noticeably brighter than a diamond of the same size under the same light.
• Dispersion of 0.104, against 0.044 for diamond. Dispersion is the splitting of white light into spectral colours. This is the origin of the rainbow fire that moissanite is known for, most visible in direct sun or under spotlights.
• Doubly refractive. Under strong magnification a gemmologist can see facet edges doubled. To the naked eye it looks like extra brilliance.

Moissanite is not cubic zirconia and it is not glass. Cubic zirconia is far softer at 8 to 8.5 on the Mohs scale, it clouds and abrades within a few years of daily wear, and it has little resale value. Moissanite keeps its polish and its brightness indefinitely. It is also not a diamond, laboratory grown or mined, and we never describe it as one. It is its own gemstone with its own optical signature, and it is chosen by people who want maximum presence on the hand for a fraction of the cost of a diamond of the same size.

Every stone we set is graded colourless, the top colour band for moissanite, and VVS clarity, which means any inclusions are extremely difficult to find even under ten times magnification. Nothing is visible to the naked eye.

Choosing your metal

This ring is made to order in ten metals, so the version you choose is the version we build. There is no plating over a base metal and no filled or bonded gold anywhere in the range.

• 925 sterling silver is the most affordable way to own the design. It is 92.5 per cent pure silver, bright white, and it takes a high polish. Silver is softer than gold and it will pick up fine surface marks with daily wear, which most people come to like. It can also tarnish, and a soft polishing cloth brings it straight back.
• 10K gold is 41.7 per cent pure gold. It is the hardest and the most scratch resistant of the three gold alloys, which makes it a sensible choice for hands that work. The colour is a little paler than 14K.
• 14K gold is 58.5 per cent pure gold and it is what most engagement rings sold in the United States are made from. It balances a warm, convincing colour against real everyday durability.
• 18K gold is 75 per cent pure gold. It has the deepest, richest colour and the most weight in the hand. It is also the softest of the three, so it marks a little more readily.

Yellow gold is gold alloyed with silver and copper. Rose gold takes more copper, which gives the warm pink tone and also makes it the hardest of the three colours. White gold is alloyed with palladium or nickel and then finished with rhodium plating, which is what gives it that bright white face. Rhodium wears thin over time and wants redoing roughly every one to two years, which any jeweller can do quickly and cheaply. Every gold ring is stamped with its karat mark.

Choosing your carat size

This ring is offered in 2, 3, 4 and 5 carat centre stones. Carat is a unit of weight, not of width, so here is roughly what each one measures across the face of a marquise cut:

• 2 carat is the most chosen size. It is unmistakably a statement stone and still sits comfortably under a glove or a coat sleeve.
• 3 carat is a clear step up in presence and photographs beautifully. This is where most people land when they want the ring to be the first thing anyone notices.
• 4 carat covers the finger generously and suits longer fingers and larger ring sizes particularly well.
• 5 carat is a red carpet stone. It is the size people ask about across a room.

If you are between sizes, order the smaller centre stone in a richer metal rather than the larger stone in the cheapest one. A well made ring in 14K or 18K gold ages far better than an oversized stone on a thin shank.

Made to order in our own workshop

Mapple Gems is a family run jewellery workshop in Surat, in Gujarat, India. Surat is where roughly nine out of every ten diamonds in the world are cut and polished, and the bench skills that grew up around that trade are what this ring is built on. We are not a dropshipper and we do not hold finished stock. When your order comes in, a goldsmith casts your metal in your size, a setter places every stone by hand under a microscope, and the piece is polished, checked and photographed before it leaves us.

Making takes ten to fourteen working days for most orders. Shipping is free worldwide and fully insured, and it is normally three to seven working days once the ring has left the bench. Buying direct from the bench is the reason a ring like this costs what it does here rather than several times more on a high street.

Caring for your ring

Moissanite attracts skin oil and hand cream the same way diamond does, and a film of it is the single most common reason a ring looks dull. Soak the ring for ten minutes in warm water with a drop of washing up liquid, brush gently behind and underneath the stone with a soft toothbrush, rinse and pat dry with a lint free cloth. Once a fortnight is plenty.

Take the ring off before the gym, gardening, swimming pools and hot tubs, and before using bleach or oven cleaner. Chlorine attacks the alloys in gold over time and it will do nothing good to sterling silver. Store it on its own rather than loose in a box with other pieces. Have the claws checked by a jeweller once a year, which takes two minutes and is usually free. White gold will want its rhodium refreshed every one to two years.

Questions people ask about this ring

How big do the pear side stones look?

They scale with the centre stone, so they grow as you move up the carat options. Because they sit close in rather than spaced out, they read as part of the centre rather than as separate stones, which makes the whole ring look longer rather than wider.

Will a wedding band sit flush against this ring?

A straight band leaves a small gap under the outer points of the pears. A curved contour band follows the line and sits flush. The gap is small on this version because the sides sit close in to the shank.

What colour and clarity is the moissanite in this ring?

Every centre stone is graded colourless with VVS clarity. Colourless is the top colour band for moissanite, and VVS means inclusions are extremely difficult to see even under ten times magnification. The grades are the same on every metal and every carat weight, and on every ring we cut and set in our own workshop.

Will people be able to tell it is not a diamond?

Not by looking. Both stones are colourless and brilliantly cut, and at arm length they read the same. In direct sunlight moissanite throws more rainbow coloured fire than a diamond does, which some people love and which is the only tell most people would ever notice. Telling the two apart with any certainty needs a thermal or electrical conductivity tester, or a loupe and the training to read facet doubling.

Does moissanite get cloudy or lose its sparkle over time?

No. At 9.25 on the Mohs scale it is one of the hardest gem materials there is, and it does not abrade, cloud or dull with wear the way cubic zirconia does. What makes any ring look dull is a film of skin oil, soap and hand cream on the underside of the stone. A few minutes in warm soapy water with a soft brush restores it completely.

What ring sizes can I order?

We make sizes 1.5 to 13, including every half size. Choose your size at checkout. If you are unsure, measure a ring that already fits the correct finger, or ask a local jeweller to size you, and remember that fingers run slightly larger in hot weather and late in the day.

Can the ring be resized later?

In most cases yes. Any jeweller can work on a plain section of shank. Resizing is harder where the band is set with stones all the way round, and moving more than about two sizes in either direction is better done by remaking the shank. Contact us first and we will tell you exactly what is possible for your ring.

How long will it take to arrive?

Every ring is made to order in our workshop in Surat. Allow ten to fourteen working days for making, plus three to seven working days for insured worldwide shipping. If you have a proposal date, tell us when you order and we will confirm whether we can meet it.

Is the metal solid, or is it plated?

It is solid throughout. 925 sterling silver is 92.5 per cent pure silver, and the gold options are solid 10K, 14K or 18K alloy stamped with the karat mark. Nothing in this range is gold plated, gold filled or gold bonded. White gold carries a rhodium finish on the surface, which is standard for all white gold everywhere and is refreshed every year or two.

Do you offer engraving?

Yes, and there is no charge for it. Tell us the wording when you order and we will engrave the inside of the shank. Most people choose a date, a set of initials or a short phrase. Allow up to about twenty five characters.

What is your returns policy?

Returns are accepted within thirty days of delivery on an unworn ring in its original packaging. Because every piece is cut, cast and set to order, engraved rings and rings made to a non standard specification are handled case by case. Write to us and we will sort it out.

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